A newly confirmed COVID-19 case might indicate person-to-person transmission within a Taoyuan hotel, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as 412 people were moved from the facility to government quarantine centers.
The center announced three more cases linked to China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航), two of which were domestically transmitted, while the source of the third is unknown.
One of the domestic cases is a senior housekeeping employee at Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, where many CAL flight crew members stay for quarantine after arriving in Taiwan, the CECC said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The man in his 40s developed symptoms on April 17 and sought treatment at a clinic three times from Monday last week to Monday, but his condition did not improve, it said.
On Tuesday, he went to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia, and he tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, the CECC said, adding that he is in an intensive care unit.
The man was in charge of checking the cleanliness of the rooms and helped deliver items to people in quarantine there, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC.
The man reportedly wore a mask and gloves while on the job, Chen added.
The possibility that he was infected through environmental transmission is minimal, he said, but added that it was possibly spread through contact between cleaning staff.
According to CECC guidelines, after a guest checks out of a quarantine hotel, a team disinfects their room wearing full protective gear, Chen said.
Thirty minutes after the room is disinfected, sanitation workers enter to clean without wearing medical gowns, he added.
If any area was not properly sanitized, it is the second group of cleaners who would face risk of infection, he said.
Yesterday’s confirmed case inspected rooms after they were cleaned by this second group, meaning he likely contracted the virus from a coworker, Chen said.
Three other employees at the hotel have developed fevers and are being tested for COVID-19, two of whom are cleaning staff, he added.
Since there is a possibility of person-to-person transmission, the highest level of containment measures have been activated, Chen said, meaning that all 412 people at the hotel have been moved to government quarantine centers.
Of them, 207 are employees, 109 are Taiwanese pilots and 76 are foreign pilots, while the rest are visitors, he said.
After the hotel is emptied at about 5pm today, it is to be inspected and fully disinfected, Chen added.
The other new domestic case is a Taiwanese woman in her 40s, who is the wife of a CAL pilot who tested positive on Tuesday last week, the CECC said.
The third case linked to CAL is a Taiwanese cargo pilot in his 50s, who returned from the US on Sunday and tested positive during quarantine after he developed symptoms.
With the confirmation of the three new cases, the number of COVID-19 infections linked to CAL has increased to 16.
They are eight Taiwanese cargo pilots; three relatives of Taiwanese cargo pilots; a hotel employee; two Indonesian cargo pilots, one of whom was diagnosed in Australia; and two relatives of one of the Indonesian pilots, the CECC said.
The center has not yet determined how the pilots were infected, it said.
The CECC also reported two new imported infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,121, of whom 1,051 have recovered, 12 have died and 58 are in hospital.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique